Coalition of the Willing?

The Jewlarious guide to the 2013 Israeli election and Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition options.

JEWLARIOUS SATIRE: November 6, 2012 was Election Day in the United States. By approximately 11 p.m. that same evening ,balloons and confetti were falling at Obama headquarters as the American people knew who their President would be.

The Israeli election was January 22, and we still don’t know the makeup of the Knesset.

By contrast the Israeli election was held on January 22, 2013 and we still don’t know the exact makeup of the next Israeli Knesset. While Benjamin Netanyahu is the presumptive Prime Minister, there have been no balloons and confetti at his campaign headquarters. Maybe some falafel and humus. Maybe.

Are you one of the many who find the Israeli electoral system confusion? Wondering what is taking so long? Well never fear, Jewlarious is here with an explanation of the electoral system, the winners and losers, and what Netanyahu’s coalition options are.

Israeli Electoral System

The Israeli parliament or Knesset has 120 seats, modeled after the 120-member Jewish court called the Anshei Knesset Hagedolah (Men of the Great Assembly) which existed in biblical times. The presumptive Prime Minister comes from the party that wins the most seats. If his party wins more than 60 seats, then game over – break open the humus. But this never happens, so the presumptive Prime Minister has to form a coalition with some of the other parties to get him over the 60-seat threshold. Sorry Bibi, put the humus back in the fridge.

2013 Knesset Parties

Results of the 2013 Israeli election breaks down as follows:

Party

Seats

Likud-Beitenu

31

Yesh Atid

19

Labor

15

Habayit Hayehudi

12

Shas

11

UTJ

7

Hatnua

6

Meretz

6

Hadash

4

United Arab List (Ta'al)

4

Balad

3

Kadima

2

Total

120

Likud – led by Benjamin Netanyahu is considered right of centre – although it would be considered left to any party to the right of it. Stay with me here. Likud merged in this election with…

Yisrael Beitenu – or “Israel is our Home,” traditionally a Russian immigrant party which is also right-of-center. It is led by Avigdor Lieberman who has had some legal troubles, but come on – which politician hasn’t. Lieberman also has a beard. It’s hard to trust a politician with a beard like that.

Yesh Atid (“There is a Future”) – a new centrist party led by popular former television host Yair Lapid. It’s not entirely clear what the Yesh Atid platform is thus far, as most of the party are first time politicians. But what is clear is that Yair Lapid is very good looking. Seriously, even his eyebrows are good looking.

Labor – considered left-of-center, the influence of this once-dominant party in Israeli politics has waned over the last 30 years. The party of David Ben Gurion is now run by Shelly Yachimovich who is also a former television host. What is it with Israelis and their television hosts? Katie Couric, you could be the next Prime Minister of Israel!

Katie Couric, you could be the next Prime Minister of Israel!

Habayit Hayehudi (“The Jewish Home”) – right-of-center and sometimes called a “nationalist” party (why is that a bad thing?). It is a religious Zionist party led by former army commando turned dot-com millionaire Naftali Bennett. Bennett is considered controversial by some due to his statements that the Palestinians do not really want peace with the State of Israel. Not sure why that is controversial.

Shas – the ultra-Orthodox Sephardic party headed by spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef. Shas’s motto is “return the crown to the former glory.” More Israelis should be wearing crowns – that’s understandable.

United Torah Judaism – the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox party. Its politicians have beards, but these are religious beards so do not arouse suspicion like Avigdor Lieberman’s beard.

Hatnuah – a left-of-center party headed by former foreign minister Tzipi Livni. “Hatnuah” means “The Movement,” but seeing as though Livni’s party only obtained six seats it didn’t really move much. Oh – snap!

Meretz – the extreme left-wing party headed by Zehava Gal-On. In a recent interview Gal-On commented, “When I look at Israeli society I get depressed, because most of the people here are right wing or close to the right wing.” To those on the left of Gal-On, they think the same thing of her.

Hadash – an Arab party – yes, you read that correctly. Arab Israelis vote freely in Israeli elections unlike their brethren in the majority of Arab countries. Hadash’s political outlook is Communist. Apparently they didn’t get the memo from the Kremlin that Communism is over.

United Arab List (Ta'al) – another Arab party – yes, you read correctly. Arab Israelis vote freely in Israeli elections unlike their brethren in the majority of Arab countries. Ta’al did get the Kremlin memo – they are not Communists.

Balad – another Arab party – yes, you read correctly. Arab Israelis vote freely in Israeli elections unlike their brethren in the majority of Arab countries. Balad opposes the idea of Israel as a Jewish state, preferring a bi-national state. In addition, one of its members, Haneen Zoabi, is apparently a big fan of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. What a patriot.

Kadima – once the party of Ariel Sharon which obtained 29 seats in the 2006 Knesset, this time around they squeaked out only 2 seats. At one point it was kind of a centrist party, but now with only two members they’re probably going to hang out in the Knesset cafeteria playing video games.

Coalition Options

The way we see it Netanyahu has five coalition options.

Broad Coalition Option – Netanyahu has said publicly that he wants to form the broadest coalition possible, to confront the numerous challenges that Israel is facing on the horizon. Labor, Meretz, Hatnuah and the Arab parties have all said that they would not join a Netanyahu government. So that leaves:

The problem with this option is that Labor and Hatnuah have both said they would not sit in a Netanyahu government. That’s what they say, anyway. Also, in this option there is definitely no cholent Fridays.

Broad Coalition without Habayit Hayehudi – this is the same as the Broad Coalition Option except without Habayit Hayehudi (= 70). Naftali Bennett used to be Netanyahu’s Chief of Staff, but the two had some sort of falling out, so Netanyahu may pursue this option to spite Bennett. This is the political equivalent to giving your fellow classmate a wedgie.

Hell Freezes Over Coalition – Just for the sake of exploring all our options, Netanyahu could conceivably do this:

About the Author

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 6

(6)
Anonymous,
January 30, 2013 9:06 PM

I'm with Nechama & Chaiah (especially if one or the other is single)

I've been here over THIRTY years!, and this is probably the best summation I've EVER seen.
/Kol HaKavod/

(5)
Chaiah Schwab,
January 30, 2013 5:20 AM

I agree with Nechama (#2). Whadda you mean with that "disclaimer: This was just a fun article ..." ?? This is the best explanation of Israeli politics I have seen, and I read the weekly 150 page "Yated Neeman"! (Plus, I lived in Israel for 20 years.) You hit the political nail on the political head!

(4)
Steve,
January 30, 2013 1:50 AM

Handsome Eye Brows

This is funny stuff -- and informative to boot.
BTW, Yair Lapid's eye brows are handsome! Good call!

(3)
Max Power,
January 29, 2013 8:37 PM

most likely coalition

You missed the most obvious partnership, Likud 31 -Yesh Atid 19 - Bayit Yehudi 12 - Kadima 2 = 64 Right of center coalition, similar financial platforms, and all agree on some form of service for all.

(2)
Nechama,
January 29, 2013 4:25 PM

Informative

LOL!!
No need for a disclaimer. This article explained more than many more serious ones.
Thank you!

I've been striving to get more into spirituality. But it seems that every time I make some progress, I find myself slipping right back to where I started. I'm getting discouraged and feel like a failure. Can you help?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Spiritual slumps are a natural part of spiritual growth. There is a cycle that people go through when at times they feel closer to God and at times more distant. In the words of the Kabbalists, it is "two steps forward and one step back." So although you feel you are slipping, know that this is a natural process. The main thing is to look at your overall progress (over months or years) and be able to see how far you've come!

This is actually God's ingenious way of motivating us further. The sages compare this to teaching a baby how to walk. When the parent is holding on, the baby shrieks with delight and is under the illusion that he knows how to walk. Yet suddenly, when the parent lets go, the child panics, wobbles and may even fall.

At such times when we feel spiritually "down," that is often because God is letting go, giving us the great gift of independence. In some ways, these are the times when we can actually grow the most. For if we can move ourselves just a little bit forward, we truly acquire a level of sanctity that is ours forever.

Here is a practical tool to help pull you out of the doldrums. The Sefer HaChinuch speaks about a great principle in spiritual growth: "The external awakens the internal." This means that although we may not experience immediate feelings of closeness to God, eventually, by continuing to conduct ourselves in such a manner, this physical behavior will have an impact on our spiritual selves and will help us succeed. (A similar idea is discussed by psychologists who say: "Smile and you will feel happy.")

That is the power of Torah commandments. Even if we may not feel like giving charity or praying at this particular moment, by having a "mitzvah" obligation to do so, we are in a framework to become inspired. At that point we can infuse that act of charity or prayer with all the meaning and lift it can provide. But if we'd wait until being inspired, we might be waiting a very long time.

May the Almighty bless you with the clarity to see your progress, and may you do so with joy.

In 1940, a boatload 1,600 Jewish immigrants fleeing Hitler's ovens was denied entry into the port of Haifa; the British deported them to the island of Mauritius. At the time, the British had acceded to Arab demands and restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The urgent plight of European Jewry generated an "illegal" immigration movement, but the British were vigilant in denying entry. Some ships, such as the Struma, sunk and their hundreds of passengers killed.

If you seize too much, you are left with nothing. If you take less, you may retain it (Rosh Hashanah 4b).

Sometimes our appetites are insatiable; more accurately, we act as though they were insatiable. The Midrash states that a person may never be satisfied. "If he has one hundred, he wants two hundred. If he gets two hundred, he wants four hundred" (Koheles Rabbah 1:34). How often have we seen people whose insatiable desire for material wealth resulted in their losing everything, much like the gambler whose constant urge to win results in total loss.

People's bodies are finite, and their actual needs are limited. The endless pursuit for more wealth than they can use is nothing more than an elusive belief that they can live forever (Psalms 49:10).

The one part of us which is indeed infinite is our neshamah (soul), which, being of Divine origin, can crave and achieve infinity and eternity, and such craving is characteristic of spiritual growth.

How strange that we tend to give the body much more than it can possibly handle, and the neshamah so much less than it needs!